Tune-controlling device for musical instruments.



No. 7|3,653. Patented Nov..| 8, I902.

E. DE KLEIST.

TUNE CONTROLLING DEVICE FOR MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.

(Application filed Jam 21, 1902.)

(No Model.)

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EUGENE DE KLEIST, OF NORTH TONANVANDA, NEV YORK.

TUNE CONTROLLING DEVECE FOR MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.

:lEGIFIGATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 713,653, dated November18, 1902.

Application filed January 21,1902. Serial No. 90,638. (No model.)

To all whom i2; may concern:

Be it known that I, EUGENE DE KLEIST, a citizen of the United States,residing at North Tonawanda, in the county of Niagara and State of NewYork, have invented new and usefulImprovementsinTune-ControllingDe vicesfor Musical Instruments, of which the following is a specification.

Thisinvention relates to an automatic controlling device designed moreparticularly to cooperate with the coincontrolled starting and stoppingmechanism of an automatic piano or other musical instrument for causingthe instrument to play a tune more than once for every deposit of acoin. A tune-controller of this character is described and shown inLetters Patent of the United States No. 679,026, granted to me July 23,1901. The parts of such instruments are usually sensitive to changes oftemperature and subject to warping and shrinkage, and devices supportedby or attached to the same are therefore liable to become displaced andget out of order easily when so constructed as to require delicate andaccurate adjustment for their successful operation.

It is the object of my invention to provide a controlling device ofsimple construction which requires no exact adjustment liable to beeasily disturbed, but, on the contrary, admits of a certain degree ofinaccuracy in position or adjustment without rendering the deviceinoperative or unreliable in action.

In the accompanyingdrawings, Figure 1 is a fragmentary vertical sectionof a self-playing piano operated by a rotary pin-barrel and equippedwith my improved tune-controller. Fig. 2 is a fragmentary top plan Viewof the tune-controller and cooperating parts. Fig.

3 is a transverse vertical section in line 3 3, Fig. Fig. 4 is avertical section in line 4 4,

Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a bottom plan View of the coin intercepting anddischarge hopper. Fig. 6 is a fragmentary sectional elevation showing amodification of the controller.

Like letters of reference refer to like parts in the several figures.

A indicates the upper portion of the case of an automatic piano of thekind in which the hammers are operated by a pneumatic-action,

and B is the rotary barrel which controls this action. The latter andthe usual keys operated by the barrel form no part of my invention andare omitted for the sake of clearness.

0 indicates the wind or exhaust chest of the instrument, which isarranged in rear of the pin-barrel and from which the air is exhaustedby a bellows in a well-known manner, and D is the longitudinal bar orsupport arranged above the wind-chest and carrying the usual pivotedkeys or fingers operated by the barrel.

E indicates a coin-chute extending through the wall of the case A andpreferably provided at its lower end with a coin intercepting anddischarge device forming the terminals of an electric circuit whichcontains a motor for driving the pin-barrel B and actuating theexhaust-bellows of the instrument. These terminals are arranged toarrest a de posited coin, so that the latter bridges and connects theterminals, thereby closing the circuit and causing the instrument toplay as long as the coin is held between the termi nals, while breakingthe circuit and stopping the instrument when the coin is released. Theintercepting device preferably employed for this purpose consists of ahopper F, having two opposite walls ff, made of metal, to form theterminals of the motor-circuit F These walls converge downwardly and arearranged so closely together that the coin cannot drop through thethroat left between them. The other two walls are made of insulatingmaterial, and one of them is constructed in the form of a hinged door fthrough which the intercepted coin is dis charged laterally. The wall ofthe hopper opposite this door has a slot through which passes anejecting-fingerf This finger extends into the throat of the hopper andis carried by the door, so that when the latter is opened the ejector iscaused to move across the throat and force the deposited coin sidewiseout of the hopper. My improved tunecontroller acts upon thisdischarge-door and is constructed as follows:

G indicates a motor-pneumatic or small bellows having its movable board9 connected with the vertically-swinging doorf by arod h piano or otherstationary part.

in such manner that when the pneumatic is exhausted the door is openedand the coin discharged. The connecting-rod h is preferablyscrew-threaded and provided with adjustable stop-nuts h, which bearagainst an ear h of the door and an extension h of the pneumatic topermit the throw of the door to be properly regulated. The door isclosed bya spring 71 having one end connected with the door above itshinge and its other end attached to the wall of the case of the As themovable board of the pneumatic G is connected with this door, the springit also serves to expand the pneumatic. This pneumatic is connected witha valve-chamber I, which communicates with the exhaust-chest O byapassage 'i. Thelatteris controlled by a valve 71, which when closed cutsoff the pneumatic from the exhaust-chamber and when opened allows thepneumatic to communicate with the chest for collapsing the same. Thevalve t" is closed by a spring 2' and opened by a sticker t whichextends upwardly through the valve-chamber I.

J indicates a rigid guide or block mounted upon the supportingbar D orother suitable support and arranged at right angles to the pin-barrel B.This block is provided in its under side with a longitudinal groove, inwhich is guided a slide or carrier K. This slide overhangs thepin-barrel and carries at at its front end a depending shifting key orpawl 70, arranged to be engaged by a tappet or tripper k on theperiphery of the barrel, so that when said tripper by the forwardrotation of the barrel strikes said pawl it pulls the slide K forwardlyuntil the tripper clears the pawl, when it allows the slide to remain atrest. This pawl is yieldingly mounted on the slide and for this purposeis pivoted in a longitudinal slot of the slide by a horizontal pin andheld against upward movement by a spring 7& of sufficient stiffness tohold the pawl normally in its depressed'position and cause the same todraw the bar forward when engaged by the tripper of the pinbarrel B. Thedownward movement of the pawl It is limited by a stop-pin k on theslide. The slide also carries a vertically-swinging operating key orlever L, which is arranged in rear of the shifting-pawl 7c and pivotedin the slot of the slide by a horizontal pin Z. This operating-lever hasat its front end a nose Z, which is arranged to be tripped by the tappet7c of the barrel B when the slide K is in its extended position, so asto raise the front arm of the lever and depress its rear arm. This reararm is provided with a foot Z, which is arranged to stand over thesticker 1' in the extended position of the slide, so that when the leverL is rocked on its pivot in this position of the slide its rear armdepresses the sticker and opens the valve 4;, thereby exhausting the airfrom the pneumatic G and causing the latter to open the door of thecoin-discharge hopper F. The rear arm of the rock-lever L is longer orheavier than its front arm to keep the same in its normal position bygravity, and the foot of this lever rests loosely upon a horizontalguide strip or spring m, secured at its rear end to the supporting-bar Dand extending forwardly over the top of the sticker 2' so that when thelever L is actuated it acts upon this sticker through the guide-springm, the free end of the spring yielding to the pressure of the lever andreturning to its normal position when the rear arm of the lever rises.This guide-spring not only forms a smooth support for the foot of therock-lever as the latter slides back and forth with the slide, butserves as an intermediate pressuretransmitter, which insures thedepression of the sticker 11 even if the foot of the lever should notstand directly over the sticker in the extended position of the slide,owing to inaccurate workmanship or other causes. The forward movement ofthe slide is limited by a stop n, located in the path of an arm or post02, which extends upwardly from the slide and moves in a longitudinalslot 41 in the guide-block J, as shown in Fig. 1. This stop preferablyconsists of a horizontal screw 0, carried by a bracket 0, secured to thetop of said block. By this construction the forward stroke of the slidecan be regulated to properly position its shifting-pawl 7c and rockleverL with reference to the tripper It of the pin-barrel.

P indicates a bellows or pneumatic located at one side of the slide Kand having its movable board arranged to swing forwardly and backwardly.This board has an extension 9, which is arranged on the front side ofthe post n of the carrier and adapted to bear against the same above theplane of the stopscrew 0. The pneumatic P is provided with a spring p,which tends to swing its movable board rearwardly, so as to cause thesame to return the slide from its extended to its retracted position.This pneumatic constantly communicates with the exhaust-chest O by atube or conduit 19 so that the same is collapsed in opposition to itsspring 19 when said chest is exhausted by the operation of theinstrument and remains collapsed so long as the instrument continues toplay, while when the instrument is stopped the exhaustion of the airfrom the exhaust-chest and said pneumatic ceases and the latter allowsits strained spring to react and swing the movable board of thepneumatic rearwardly. By this construction the extension 19 of thepneumatic is moved forward out of the way of the post of the slide whenthe instrument is started and held in that position by the atmosphericpressure upon the exterior of said exhausted pneumatic until theinstrument is stopped, when the spring p returns the extension to itsrearward position, thereby shifting the slide back to its formerposition preparatory to its next forward stroke.

In the normal condition of the parts the door of the coin-interceptinghopper F is closed and the slide K is in its retracted position, asshown by full lines in Fig. 1. In this position the shifting-pawl k ofthe slide stands over the axis of the pin-barrel B, or nearly so, and inthe path of the tripper It of the latter, while the nose of therock-lever L, which is of about the same length as the nose of saidshifting-pawl, clears said tripper, owing to its location behind theshifting-pawl and the tangential arrangement of the slide with referenceto the pin-barrel.

Upon dropping a proper coin into the chute the same falls into thehopper F and is arrest ed by the metallic walls of the latter, againstwhich it bears edgewise. The motor-circuit F is thereby closed and theinstrument caused to play. After the pin-barrel has made a complete turnand caused a tune to be played once its tripper 7c strikes theshifting-pawl 7c and draws the slide forwardly until it is arrested bythe stop a, thereby bringing the nose of the rock-lever Linto the pathof travel of said tripperand its foot 1 over the sticker i as shown bydotted lines in Fig. 1. When the slide K is thus arrested, the tripperdeflects the yielding pawl upwardly and clears the same. The resistanceof the pawl-spring k must obviously be greater than the friction betweenthe slide and its guide in order to shift the slide. When the pin-barrelhas completed its second turn and caused the instrument to repeat thetune, its tripper encounters the nose of the operating-lever L, rockingthe latter on its pivot and causing it to depress the sticker 2' therebyopening the valve 2" and collapsing the pneumatic G,while the latter inturn opens the door f of the coinhopper, discharging the coin from thehopper, breaking the motor-circuit, and stopping the instrument. As soonas the tripper 7t" clears the nose of the rock-lever L the sticker i isallowed to rise and the valve t" permitted to close, thereby cutting offthe door-operating pneumatic G from the exhaust-chest 0, allowing saidpneumatic to expand and closing the door of the coin-hopper.

The exhaustion of the airfrom the springretaining pneumatic P ceaseswhen the instrument stops, and the movable board of this pneumatic isthereupon swung backward by the spring 19, thereby shifting the slide Kbackward to its original position, as heretofore described. During thisbackward movement the yielding shifting-pawl 75 trips over thebarrel-tappet 7t, and in orderto permit of this action the power of thespring applied to the pneumatic P must necessarily exceed the resistanceof the pawl-spring It will now be understood that the operat ing-key orrock-lever L, which controls the discharge of the coin and the operationof the instrument, is moved into and out of the path of the tripper onthe pin-barrel B or equivalent traveling member by the shiftingpawl 70of the slide K, which pawl is acted upon by the tripper in advance ofsaid rocklever, and that when a single shifting-pawl is employed inconnection with such a key or rock-lever the instrument is caused toplay a tune twice before stopping. It is obvious, however, that theinstrument could be caused to repeat a tune a greater number of times byduplicating or multiplying the number of shifting-pawls andarrangingthem one in advance of another, as seen in Fig. 6, where twoshifting-pawls are shown. In this case the tone will be played threetimes for each coin deposited, the barrel-tapper 7c tripping the twoshifting-pawls successively after completing its first and second turnsand actuating the rock-lever L after completingits third turn. Thisshifting pawl or pawls and the rock-lever of the slide do not requireaccourate adjustment, but will permit of more or less displacement orimperfection in workmanship within certain limits without interferingwith the operation of the tune-controller or rendering it liable to getout of order. The controller can therefore be more coarsely and cheaplyconstructed and. placed in position in less time than devices whosesuccessful operation depends upon accurate workmanship and delicateadjustment.

When the controller is applied to an instrument having apneumatic-action, I prefer to operate the same by pneumatic means, asherein shown and described; but I do notwish to limit the invention tothat construction,because it could be used with a coin-interceptingdevice operated from the rock-lever L by mechanical means, and thereturn stroke of the slide K could likewise be effected by mechanicaldevices.

While my improvement is especially desirable as a tune-controller formusical instruments, it may also be applied to other coin-operatedmachines, such as automatic vending and photographing machines, forcontrolling the amount of merchandise delivered by the machine or thenumber of times the machine performs a certain operation or cycle ofoperations for every'deposit of a coin.

I do not wish to claim in this application the construction of thecoin-intercepting hopper F herein shown and described, as the same formsthe subject of another application for patent filed by me on the 3d dayof March, 1902, Serial No. 96,519.

I claim as my invention- 1. The combination with a member to beactuated, of a traveling member, a carrier arranged to be engaged bysaid traveling member and adapted to be advanced thereby, an operatingdevice for the member to be actuated which is arranged to clear saidtraveling member in the normal position of the carrier and to be engagedthereby in the advanced position of the carrier, and means carried bythe carrier for advancing said operating device therewith, substantiallyas set forth.

2. The combination with a member to be actuated, of a traveling memberhaving a tappet or tripper, a carrier having a shifting key or pawlarrangedin the path of said tripper and adapted to be advanced thereby,and an operating key or lever for the member to be actuated, mounted onthe carrier and arranged to clear said tripper in the normal position ofthe carrier and to be engaged thereby in the advanced position of thecarrier, substantially as set forth.

3. The combination with a member to be actuated, ofa traveling memberhaving a tappet or'tripper, a slide having a shifting key or pawlarranged in the path of said tripper, and an operating key or lever forthe member to be actuated pivoted to said slide in rear of saidshifting-key and arranged to be operated by said tripper when the slideis shifted out of its normal position, and means for returning saidslide to its initial position, substantially as set forth.

4. The combination with a member to be actuated, of a rotary barrelhaving a tappet or tripper, a slide arranged tangentially to said barreland having a yielding shifting key or pawl located in the path of saidtripper, and an operating key or lever pivoted on said slide in rear ofsaid shifting-key, said operating-lever standing'in the path of saidtripper when the slide is in its advanced position and being constructedto operate upon the member to be actuated in the last-named position,substantially as set forth.

5. The combination with a member to be actuated, of a traveling memberhaving a tappet or tripper, a slide having a shifting key or pawlarranged in the path of said tripper, and an operating key or lever forthe member to be actuated mounted on the slide in rear of saidshifting-pawl and arranged to be engaged by said tripper in the advancedposition of the slide, and an adjustable stop arranged to limit theforward movement of the slide, substantially as set forth.

6. The combination with a member to be actuated, of a yielding guideextending over the same, a traveling member having a tappet or tripper,and a carrier having a shifting key or pawl arranged in the path of saidtripper, and an operating key or lever mounted on the carrier behindsaid shifting-pawl and having a foot which bears upon said yieldingguide and a nose arranged to stand in thepath of said tripper in theadvanced position of the carrier, substantially as set forth.

7. The combination with a wind-chest, a valve-chamber communicatingtherewith and a valve controlling the passage between said chest andchamber, of a motor-pneumatic connected with said valve-chamber andarranged to operate the desired part or member, a traveling memberhaving a tappet or tripper, and a carrier having a shifting key or pawlarranged in the path of said tripper, and an operating key or lever forsaid valve mounted on the carrier behind said shiftingkey, substantiallyas set forth.

8. In a musical instrument, the combination of a wind-chest, a member tobe actuated, a traveling member having a tappet or tripper, a carrierhaving a shifting key or pawl arranged in the path of said tripper andan operating key or lever for the member to be actuated mounted on saidcarrier behind said shifting-pawl and arranged to be struck by saidtripper in the advanced position of the carrier, a return-springarranged to retract the carrier, and a pneumatic connected with saidwind-chest and operating to hold said spring under tension but in aninoperative positionwhile the instrument is playing, substantially asset forth.

9. The combination of an exhaust-chest, a member to be actuated, atraveling member having a tappet or tripper, a carrier having a shiftingkey or pawl arranged in the path of said tripper and an operating key orlever for the member to be actuated mounted on said carrier behind saidshifting-pawl and arranged to be struck by said tripper in the advancedposition of the carrier, a pneumatic communicating constantly with saidexhaustchest and having its movable board arranged to retract saidcarrier when the pneumatic is expanded, and an expanding-spring actingupon said movable board, substantially as set forth.

10. The combination with an exhaust-chest, a valve-chamber communicatingtherewith and a valve controlling the passage between said chest andchamber, of a coin-intercepting device having terminals of amotor-circuit arranged to be connected by a deposited coin, a dischargedevice for the intercepted coin, a pneumatic connected with saidexhaust-chest and operating said discharge device, a traveling member, acarrier arranged to be engaged by said member and adapted to be advancedthereby, an operating device for said valve arranged to clear saidtraveling member in the normal position of the carrier and to be engagedthereby in the advanced position of the carrier, and means for returningsaid carrier to its initial position, substantially as set forth.

11. The combination with an exhaust-chest, a valve-chamber communicatingtherewith and a valve controlling the passage between said chest andchamber, of a coin-intercepting device having terminals of amotor-circuit arranged to be connected by a deposited coin, a dischargedevice for the intercepted coin, a pneumatic connected with said exboardarranged to shift the slide rearwardly, 1o haust-chest and operatingsaid discharge deand an expanding-spring operating to expand vice, apin-barrel having a tripper, a slide said pneumatic, substantially asset forth.

overhanging said barrel and carrying a yield- Witness my hand this 15thday of January, ing shifting-pawl which is arranged in the 1902.

path of said tripper, and an operating-lever EUGENE DE KLEIST. for saidvalve arranged behind said pawl, a W'itnesses:

pneumatic constantly communicating with CARL F. GEYER,

said exhaust-chest and having its movable 1 THEO. L. POPP.

